Submitted by “Sounder Bruce”, who says:
A quasi-transit map that shows electric vehicle charging stations in Washington and Oregon, centered around the Interstate 5 corridor.
Transit Maps says:
I really like the idea behind this map – a simplified road map much in the vein of many of my own mapping projects – but I feel like the execution lets the concept down a little.
Because of the stylised “transit map” format, the distances between many points on the map get horribly distorted, with, say, 20 miles represented by very short lines, long lines and pretty much everything inbetween. Yes, the mileage is often shown on the map by red numbers, but a quick, reliable visual aid to distances would be preferable. The distortion is so great that Ellensburg in Washington is shown far further west than The Dalles in Oregon, when in reality it is further east.
The big white circles with green keylines used to represent metropolitan areas work fine when they’re superimposed over the dark green Interstate highway route lines, but make it look like the road splits to circumnavigate Corvallis – the green stroke on the circle is exactly the same colour and width as that used for minor highways!
The placement of Tesla charging stations is a little problematic: the icon used looks much like a Google Maps location marker, complete with a little shadow where they “touch” the ground. We’re so used to this style of marker being used to point precisely to an exact location that it seems weird when its used as loosely as this. The chargers are in a nearby named town, not at the exact location shown… and even that can be a little hard to discern. Is the Tesla station on I-5 between Portland and Seattle in Centralia or Tumwater?
I also wonder why the city of Bend in central Oregon isn’t shown: it has charging stations and is just a short distance from both Sisters and Redmond, making it a logical “end” to the route in that part of the map. For those wondering, this map really does show pretty much the full eastwards extent of charging stations in Oregon. After The Dalles on I-84, there’s another charging station in the town of Arlington… and then nothing until you hit Idaho.
Our rating: Perhaps I’m being a little hard on this map. As an introduction to the electric charging stations in Oregon and Washington, it actually does a pretty decent job. I certainly had no idea of where chargers were located outside of Portland, so I’ve definitely learned something! Two-and-a-half stars.
Source: West Coast Green Highway website